The Highest Form of Flattery

Even with examples like IPY, the good, outweighs the bad. For every hundred bastions of internet stupidity, there is one diamond in the rough that makes up for all the bad experiences. There's satisfaction in knowing live teams aren't the only guys who can hang when it comes to a game they created; that the little man is just as capable as the ones getting paychecks for their work. This is somehow reassuring for the future of games. There are a whole new crop of people out there who can and do create games worth playing.

Speaking of the future, there are no signs of communities stopping, and why should they? As Moore's Law continues to fall behind its curve, home users are more than ever able to create server-like environments in the home. Just think about it, the machine on which you're reading this could, at least passably, keep a few WoW zones up and running, and if you have the bandwidth, you and 100 of your closest friends could tool around Azeroth to your hearts' content. Hey, I may never be a real GM in UO, but the brief moment I experienced on my little corner of Britannia was just as good. And as technology slows down and reverse engineering gains more credibility, maybe I'll be able to set my own PvP rules in WoW as a consolation prize. The past is dotted with instances of bright-eyed individuals willing to step up, at great personal expense, to keep gaming alive, or to mold it how they see fit, and despite a few hiccups, games have been the better for it.